Landscape Maintenance Checklist for Commercial Properties

Springtime is one of the busiest times for commercial landscaping teams, especially those located in regions that experience winter weather. In fact, spring landscape maintenance services are so important that they commonly make up nearly a third of the annual landscaping budget. While this may seem like a lot, when it comes to protecting your landscape investment, regularly scheduled maintenance is the key to a healthy, long-lived, beautiful property.  

Spring Landscape Maintenance Should Include: 

Spring cleanup services

When you have a quality landscaping partner like your locally owned and operated U.S. Lawns to manage your grounds, the first step in the spring landscape maintenance process is spring cleanup to eliminate green waste from your grounds. This is critical because it:

• Prepares your landscape beds for the addition of fresh annual flowers and a new layer of mulch. 
• Promotes proper air circulation for your lawn, minimizing winter turf diseases such as yellow patch, pink snow mold, gray snow mold, powdery mildew, and rust disease. 
• It enables us to fully inspect your property for winter damage once accumulated leaves, twigs and debris have been eliminated from plant beds and other areas prone to trapping green waste. 

Inspect for Winter Damage

After we’ve performed spring cleanup services, we’ll inspect softscape and hardscape elements for any damage caused by harsh winter winds, the weight of accumulated ice and snow, or being hit by a snowplow while it was concealed under deep snowfall. We’ll check for:

• Breaks and injuries to trees and other plantings that should be addressed immediately in order to eliminate potential hazards and increased health risks to the flora.  
• Areas where poor drainage can create an environment that will cultivate pests, fungus, root rot and disease, and/or crumbling sidewalks and parking lots. 
• Damaged parking blocks, retainer walls, and other hardscape features that should be repaired or replaced sooner rather than later. 
• Any irrigation system leaks or broken components that can cause major problems if left unchecked before spring startup. 

After we have assessed your landscape, it’s time to prioritize the spring maintenance services so we can execute in the most effective way possible. 

Address Landscape Drainage Issues ASAP

Correcting drainage issues should be at the top of the list, because there are a multitude of costly problems that poor landscape drainage can bring, including:

• Rotting root systems, which will ultimately bring about the untimely demise of trees, shrubs, grass and other plants.
• Cracking or crumbling pavement and concrete, which can become very expensive when it’s affecting a building foundation.
• Stagnant water, which offers the ideal breeding ground for mosquitos and other pests. 

Some of the solutions U.S. Lawns may recommend for addressing poor landscape drainage will be to:

• Clear clogs and debris from existing landscape drains.
• Install new landscape drains such as French drains, channel drains (also known as trench drains), or surface drains.
• Build a natural rain garden or a dry creek bed that will effectively capture and absorb excess water runoff.
• Make the soil more permeable by blending in sand or organic matter.
• Utilize low-growing, moisture loving flora that will naturally drink up the excess water. 
• Change the topography of the land and reroute waterflow. 

As soon as we’ve seen to it that your landscape is draining properly, we’ll turn our attention to plant health services, to ensure your greenery starts off the spring season with everything it needs to flourish. 

Spring Fertilization and Pre Emergent Herbicide Application 

Springtime is fertilization season, when your grass, plants and shrubberies will benefit from a good dose of nutrition after winter dormancy; and spring is also the time to apply preemergent herbicides to stop weeds before they get an opportunity to germinate. 

Irrigation System Startup

Of course, proper hydration is as essential to flora health as nutrients, so as soon as the risk of frigid temperatures has passed for the season, it’s time to get your irrigation system up and running, too. 

This is a service that you’re wise to entrust to water management specialists like U.S. Lawns, because we’ll make certain your lawn sprinkler system is well-adjusted, in good repair and operating at peak performance as a regular part of our spring startup process. This means you won’t have to worry about any hidden malfunctions creating major problems as the season progresses.   

Landscape Enhancements 

This is a great opportunity for improving curb appeal, increasing property values and beautifying the community through spring landscape enhancements. Some of the spring improvements U.S. Lawns can assist you with are:

• Planting seasonal color, in the form of flowers, blooming trees and native grasses.
• Removing and replacing trees, shrubs and plants that were unable to survive through the winter. 
• Repairing or replacing areas of sod or turf along sidewalks and parking lots that were damaged by ice treatments, snow removal equipment or other harsh conditions. 
• Installing permanent ground covers like rubber mulch or decorative pebbles. 
• Building public outdoor spaces with patios, pathways, tables, recreation areas, and even a relaxing water or fire feature. 

This season of renewal is the perfect time for renovating your grounds!

Edging, Trimming and Deadheading Perennials

Along with adding fresh, seasonal color and making other landscape improvements, spring maintenance services should also include edging along borders and plant beds, trimming of ornamental grasses and deadheading of perennial flowers, all of which will keep your grounds looking tidy and encourage healthy growth.

Mulching

Now, this last one is a bit tricky, because although natural mulch makes an invaluable contribution to reducing weed germination, aiding with moisture retention and providing nutrition to name just a few benefits, spring mulching can be risky. If it’s done too early in the season, mulch will hold the cold moisture in the soil, which can delay plant emergence and compromise the health of your greenery. 

It’s also good to be aware that if it’s applied at the improper thickness or too close to the planting, mulch can do more harm than good. So, if it seems like a job best left to the professionals, that’s because it is. 

Fortunately, U.S. Lawns can take care of your spring mulching right along with all the other spring landscaping services your commercial property requires. We’re here to do all the specialized work and the heavy lifting too, so you can stay focused on all your other job demands. If you’re ready to find out more, contact us now!